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Showing posts with label barcelona. Show all posts
Showing posts with label barcelona. Show all posts

Monday, 7 July 2014

Derivaciones del JKPP (2): Primeros Jueves / JKPP Offshoots (2): First Thursdays

First Thursday at Caixaforum
First Thursday at Caixaforum, by Sean Cronin
Una de las características de la Fiesta del Retrato organizada por Julia Kay es su capacidad de adicción. Una vez comienzas a dibujar caras, no puedes parar. Y aunque en estos momentos el grupo de Flickr ofrece una copiosa base de fotografías aportadas por sus más de 850 miembros, no tarda en surgir la necesidad de dibujar retratos del natural. / One of the main features of Julia Kay's Portrait Party is its addictive nature. Once you start to draw faces, you can't stop. And besides its rich pool of ref photos provided by more than 850 members, you soon feel the need to draw portraits from life.
 
La troupe at Caixa Forum for RPD and JKPP
La troupe at Caixa Forum, by Arturo Espinosa
En el caso de Barcelona, la actividad se extendió muy pronto más allá de lo virtual. En julio de 2011 se organizó un primer encuentro al que acudieron miembros del JKPP de Barcelona, otras ciudades españolas e incluso otros países. Durante un día nos dedicamos a dibujarnos unos a otros en la librería La Central de la calle Mallorca. Después, los barceloneses del JKPP nos quedamos con ganas de más y decidimos repetir la reunión una vez al mes, lo que dio lugar a las sesiones de los Primeros Jueves, que se han sucedido sin interrupción hasta el momento. / In Barcelona, the practice extended soon beyond the virtual sphere. In July 2011 we had a first meetup attended by JKPPers from Barcelona, other Spanish cities and even other countries. We spent one day portraying eachother in LaCentral bookshop. Following this, the organizers of the Barcelona meet decided to repeat the event in a smaller scale once a month, which led to the current First Thursday sessions.
 
Al principio continuamos viéndonos en la librería La Central de la calle Mallorca, un lugar muy agradable pero que tenía el inconveniente de que podía estar ocupado con presentaciones de libros. De ahí pasamos a la cafetería del CaixaFórum, donde nos hemos reunido durante más de un año y donde hemos tenido el placer de recibir las visitas de Maureen Nathan y de Sean Cronin. Además de permitirnos combinar la sesión con una visita a las exposiciones, el hecho de estar en plena cafetería daba pie a miradas curiosas, peticiones de retrato de los camareros y multitud de anécdotas. / At first we used to meet in the same bookshop. It was a nice place but sometimes it hosted book launches, so we eventually moved to the cafeteria of CaixaForum, where ve've received foreign visitors as Maureen Nathan or Sean Cronin. Besides allowing us to visit the center exhibitions, the use of the cafeteria was a source of inquisitive glances, portrait requests and many amusing anecdotes.
La mesa
Session at Joan Ramon's exhibition - La mesa, by Roberto Pla
En junio de 2013, coincidiendo con una exposición de Joan Ramon FarrPrimeros Juevesa el envailinga (si el primer jueves coincide con festivo) o de lugar de encuentro, el grupo JKPP pero que ne algé, la sesión se celebró en la biblioteca Jaume Fuster, en la plaza de Lesseps. En esta ocasión contamos también con la visita de Maureen Nathan, siempre bienvenida. Desde entonces los encuentros del JKPP se han sucedido en esta misma biblioteca, salvo el de marzo de 2014, cuando nos visitó Julia Kay y nos trasladamos puntualmente al espacio La Fontana. / In June 2013, on the occasion of an art exhibition of Joan Ramon FarrPrimeros Juevesa el envailinga (si el primer jueves coincide con festivo) o de lugar de encuentro, el grupo JKPP pero que ne algé, the session moved to the Plaza Lesseps library. This time we had again an always welcome visitor: Maureen Nathan. The First Thursday sessions have been celebrated in the library since then, excepting in March 2014, when we had Julia Kay with us and we moved to a different venue: Espai Jove La Fontana.
 
Special session of Retrats Primers Dijous, with the presence of Julia Kay.
Special session of Retrats Primer Dijous with the presence of Julia Kay, by Joan Ramon Farré

Los encuentros de los primeros jueves, además de ser útiles para practicar el retrato del natural, son una buena ocasión para conocer a otros aficionados al dibujo. Las sesiones han tenido gran éxito y el grupo ha ido ampliándose. A menudo han acudido amigos de amigos, que no siempre conocían el JKPP pero que en algunos casos han terminado incorporándose a él y comprobando personalmente su poder de enganche. / The First Thursday sessions, in addition of being useful to enjoy portraiture from life, are an opportunity to meet other sketchers. The event has been successful and the group has grown. The new participants didn't always know the JKPP group, but in many cases they have joined it and have had a first-hand experience of its addictive nature.


INFO: Las sesiones del Primer Dijous se celebran cada primer jueves de mes, entre las 18 h y las 21 h. Para posibles cambios de lugar de encuentro o de fecha (si cae en festivo), podéis consultar la página del grupo en Flickr o enviar vuestro email a Joan Ramon Farré para que os mande los recordatorios. / The portrait sessions are held every first Thursday. To keep track of possible changes of place or date, refer to the Flickr page or give your email to Joan Ramon Farré to be included in the mailing.
 

Enlaces relacionados / Related links
By Daniel Castro:
By Omara Igualdú:
By Roberto Pla:
By Shiem:
By Swasky:

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

The JKPP meetup in Barcelona

Some JKPP members and friends had a great time in Barcelona on the first weekend of July. It was at the third European meet of Julia Kay's Portrait Party group, after the one that took place in London in November 2010 and the second one in Oxford, in March 2011.

This time the gathering was at La Central, a bookshop located in the center of the city, with a beautiful café and a peaceful terrace.

"lasagna" is cooling off.
The group at the bookshop terrace, photo by Joan Ramon Farré Barzuri

The portrait party was held on Saturday the 2nd July, but as some of the visitors were already in Barcelona, on Friday evening there was a dinner by the sea.

On the big day, we were a nice bunch. From Barcelona: Magí Batet, Arturo Espinosa, Joan Ramon Farré Burzuri, Arsaytoma (Zoraida de Torres), Swasky (Víctor Martínez Escámez), and some of Swasky's students at a local art school: Míriam, Pedro, Trini (Tinitru), Isaac and Daniel. From other Spanish cities: Miguel RGL and Félix Tamayo, and from other countries: Kai, who came from Germany, Barbara Luel from Belgium, Erica Smith and Susanne du Toit from UK, and Judy Repke who arrived from the US after having attended a watercolor workshop in Costa Brava. At the party we had a few visitors who had learnt about it on USk-Spain blog, and they did some portraits too. At least one of them has recently became a new member of JKPP (Javier Luengo).

It was a happy and busy day. We spent all the morning making portraits from life, some of us discovering that it is much more difficult than from photos. Swasky, who was there as a teacher, knew how to organize the posing sessions in a way that everyone could be portraited and attempt fast and less fast portraits. It was really interesting to see that some people preferred to draw from 5 minute poses, others felt more confortable with 10 minute poses, and others asked for more time to finish their work. Each one was using their preferred media: watercolors, pastels, pen and ink, graphite, digital painting... and the results make an amazingly diverse and lively collection. We were inside a classroom, a slideshow of JKPP portraits and photos was projected on a wall, and everybody was focused and silent, so there was a special atmosphere that surprised the people who came to see us.

JKKP Barcelona - the painted wall
The painted wall, photo by Arsaytoma

Also, one of the bookshop owners offered us to paint whatever we wanted on one of the classroom walls. As Judy had big brushes and plenty of watercolor, a few began to paint and now there is a nice mural inside La Central, with the portraits of some of the attendees, plus Julia Kay who was there in spirit and image (with the balloon hat), and Franz Kafka who was there in image (among the posters decorating the classroom) and maybe in spirit too.

Most of us didn't leave the bookshop on the entire day. We had lunch there, and on the afternoon we had coffee at the terrace and made more portraits of each other.

It was planned to add an urban sketching session on Sunday. There was an USk Spain event in Teruel the same weekend, so not much people could come, but we managed to have a good morning anyway with Swasky, Kai, Erica, Barbara, Arsaytoma, Joan Ramon, his brother and his nephew. We went to the port, and once more it was shown that just a few people watching the same thing can produce interestingly diverse works - and have the same fun!

Some of the foreign visitors left Barcelona on Sunday, others stayed a couple of days more... for all of them, and for the people from Barcelona too, the JKPP gathering was a nice short vacation and a good opportunity to practice portraiting from life and make lots of drawings, and of course, to meet each other and talk in a real way, not only through the Internet.

Hope there can be more JKPP meets soon. Maybe in Brussels, as Barbara suggested?


There is a Flickr group about the Barcelona JKPP meetup. You can find here photos, videos, the portraits and sketches made during the wekend, and also the artworks made by other JKPP members who did not attend the meetup.

Tuesday, 7 June 2011

Conversation with Catalan architect Joan Ramon Farré Burzuri

I had the pleasure to have a virtual conversation on architecture and art with Catalan architect Joan Ramon Farré Burzuri. I met Joan Ramon via Julia Kay's Portrait Party and he was very kind to answer me patiently. For the readers, I would like to say that my mother tongue being French, I do think in French and therefore my English has a different flavor and many mistakes...


B: Hola Joan Ramon, you are an architect and you are an artist. Your drawings of houses and buildings are, not surprisingly, very good and accurate, the architect background, but you do portraits, very precise and also very loose when applying colours, the artist side. Did you always draw, made art?

JR: First was the love for drawing,... then came the dissatisfaction with the job done.
But the flame was already lit and never faded, and this was the beginning of my passion for art.




B: Did you do a lot of portraits before joining JKPP, or first time?

JR: I was always terrified of drawing portraits. I never draw any portrait before my accession to JK'sPP.

I always considered it is the more difficult job in the world.

In a year that I belong to this group, I learned a lot from my colleagues and I discovered a new way to expression.


B: Is it common among architects to do art, portraits etc...?

JR: Within the guild of architects you can find scientists, writers, musicians, painters, sellers, sportive, bon vivants, and all the possibilities between all concepts .
Some of them have a passion for drawing, but I've never met one architect drawing portraits.


B: Does painting, drawing, make you see buildings, structures, differently?

JR: To me is not very different if I'm drawing a building, a rural landscape or the face of a beautiful woman or a child. Really, the important thing for me is to express the emotion that makes in my inside the contemplation of the objective.
In this sense, the culmination of this idea will be the abstraction.
(still so far of my usual work...)


B:. When I look at modern architecture I see a lot of square boxes with symmetry, aligned windows, no colors, blend etc.... I am not thinking just of skyscrapers but also at all the smaller buildings that make a city.

With modern technologies,being so much sophisticated than before, it seems that style is less exuberant, very severe, like always designed by engineers.
Wouldn't it be possible to have different shapes, to have curves, to break these straight lines, to have other angles than 90 degrees? Gaudi does come to my mind but also Gothic cathedrals, roman arches ...
Are curves a big no no for architects?
Are colors a big no no?

JR: When I read the first part of the question, one word appears in my mind: “minimalism”...

But in the global actual culture, the things aren’t so simples.

Technology has always influenced both process, design and constructive.

The incorporation of reinforced concrete "liberated" the tyranny of cubic shapes recommended by the prismatic form of the brick and allowed the construction of volumes with more freedom.
There are plenty of beautiful examples. For respect to a master of modern architecture, the first of them can be Notre Dame du Haut by Le Corbusier.

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Notre_Dame_du_Haut.html

At the same time, the incorporation of computer as a tool for project, gave wings to the creation of new shapes and also to the way of representation of these projects.

The first example that comes to mind is the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, designed by Frank O. Gehry.

But this is not the only one, going to let me recommend you a stroll through various examples of how imagination, art and architecture meet and we "give away" beautiful buildings.

I suggest the links below, there are for teams of architects that I think can illustrate the idea of this happy meeting.

Frank O. Ghery: http://www.gehrytechnologies.com/
Enric Miralles/Benedetta Tagliabue: http://www.mirallestagliabue.com/
Morphosis: http://www.morphosis.com/
Coop Himmelblau: http://www.coop-himmelblau.at/
Zaha Hadid: http://www.zaha-hadid.com/home

As you can see, the curves are more a problem for the builder than for the architect.

Referring to your question about the colors, thinking as a creator of forms, I would reply that if a volume is beautiful in itself, it no need to apply color, light will highlights her beauty.

I recognize that maybe it is more an argument from a sculptor than from an architect.


B: After looking at the links you gave me,I agree with you,it is art, imagination and architecture. I see a lot of new shapes, curves and different angles.
Some are so amazing, considering the long way with constraints and compromises from drawing to building.











Back to colour, reading your comment, I have the impression that architects have and develop an eye for volumes, shapes, and space.

Colour, for me, should not be a a decoration, it is part of the object, building, and with a function, like in this example:

http://www.claudecormier.com/project/benny-farm

Green was a perfect choice for these balconies, it was chosen because here in winter we are in need of green.

Thank you very much Joan Ramon.

Joan Ramon's photostream in Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/42114709@N05
Benedicte's photostream in Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/bendelachanal/

Sunday, 3 April 2011

An interview with Spanish artist Zoraida de Torres Burgos


Spanish artist Zoraida de Torres Burgos, Flickr name Arsaytoma, draws inspiration from the supportive Flickr community.
Through her membership of JKPP, she says she has become “addicted” to portrait painting and has now proposed a JKPP meet up in Barcelona in the Spring when the city is “particularly beautiful and there are fewer tourists than in the Summer”.
In her drawing (left), inspired by a photo by Martin Beek taken at the London 2010 JKPP meet up, she is pictured to the immediate right of the pillar. She speaks here about herself, her art and her involvement with JKPP.
Tell us a little about yourself
I live in Barcelona and work at home as a literary translator. I have no formal art training. I adored drawing when I was a little girl and used to paint occasionally in my adult life. In August 2009, when I was 45, I signed up for Flickr and discovered a never-ending source of inspiration and a supportive community that has encouraged me to draw and paint more and more.
Tell us about your art
My approach to art is intuitive, a way to express, without reflection, what I see or what I have in my heart. I tend to make simplified images, without perspective, volume or shadows. I use bold lines and flat colour surfaces, sometimes with decorative patterns. I love to paint people, or the everyday objects related to people's lives.
Tell us about your technique
I don't have a favourite technique. I can draw in black and white with markers, colour a scanned sketch or produce something from scratch with a graphics tablet, paint with acrylics... The subject determines the medium selected, always in an unconscious way.
Tell us about the reaction you have had to your work
At various moments of my life, a number of my drawings have been used to illustrate stories, posters etc., but it has been mostly since joining Flickr that my work has been seen outside my circle of relatives and friends. I'm always very pleased to see people's comments!
Tell us about who inspired/inspires you
The styles that inspire me most are naive art and all kinds of primitive, folk and outsider art. I'm also interested in cartoons, illustration and graphic design. And in photography, particularly press photos and the work of great photo portraitists, such as Seydou Keita. See http://www.seydoukeitaphotographer.com/
Tell us about you and JKPP
I discovered JKPP in July 2010, and I've become addicted to portrait painting! In addition, JKPP is a great place to enjoy the work of so many interesting artists. I've also taken the opportunity to meet wonderful people at the London meet up in December. Unfortunately, I missed the recent Oxford meet up but there will be further opportunities, since I hope there will be another JKPP meeting in Barcelona soon.
To see more of Zoraida’s work visit her Flickr photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/arsaytoma-zoraida/
To find out more about the Barcelona meet up visit http://www.flickr.com/groups/portraitparty/discuss/72157626406560492/